This article introduces the two sides of Civio Engage — the public site your community uses, and the admin interface where your team manages everything.
The public website
The public site is what your community sees when they visit your engagement website. Its appearance — including branding, colours, and menu items — will look different depending on how your organisation has configured it.
From the public site, community members can browse and search for projects, view project details and updates, participate using tools like surveys and idea boards, and register an account.
Your public site's branding and colour scheme are configured by Civio during initial setup. If you need changes to your site's appearance, see Guide to Site Styling and Appearance or contact Civio support.
To learn more about what makes up a project from the community's perspective, see Key elements of a project.
Getting to the admin interface
If you're an admin user, you can reach the admin interface from anywhere on the public site. Click your username in the top-right corner and select Dashboard.
This takes you to the admin interface where you'll manage your site's content and projects. For details on logging in for the first time, see Login to your site.
The admin interface
The admin interface is organised around two key areas: a left-hand menu for navigating between sections, and a user menu in the top-right corner for your personal account settings.
Left-hand menu
The left-hand menu is your main way of getting around. Click any icon to expand the menu and see its options.
| Menu item | Description | |
| Home | At-a-glance view of site-wide engagement metrics like visits, registrations, and participation. |
| Content | Manage site-wide pages, documents, updates, and events not tied to a specific project. |
| Projects | Create and manage engagement projects, each with their own content and participation tools. |
| Emails | Configure notifications and outbound emails to project followers and registered users. |
| People | View and manage all users, including community members and internal staff. |
| Settings | Configure site-wide settings such as registration forms, categories, and moderation. Admin only. |
| Public View | Opens your public site in a new tab so you can see what your community sees. |
For a detailed walkthrough of each menu section, see Understanding the admin interface.
User menu
Click your avatar in the top-right corner to access your personal account options.
| Menu item | Description | |
| My profile | View your personal profile details as they appear to others. |
| Manage profile | Update your account details, password, interests, and two-factor authentication. |
| Change to dark theme | Switch between light and dark theme in the admin interface. |
| Logout | Log out of your Civio Engage account. |
You'll also find these tools along the right-hand side of the admin interface:
| Icon | Tool | Description |
| Notifications | View alerts for activity across your site and projects. |
| Search | Quickly find projects, content, or users from anywhere in the admin interface. |
| Help | Access the Civio Engage knowledge base and support resources. |
What's next?
Now that you understand how the platform is structured, continue to the next article to set up your site.